Audacity Tutorial: How to Record and Edit Audio with Audacity

This Audacity tutorial will help you to get up and running with the free open source audio editing program, Audacity. Audacity is a free open source multi-track audio editing program from Sourceforge.net.

It is currently in version 1.2.6. and is available for Window (98 through XP), Mac OS X, and Linux. Audacity will let you record, edit, and mix an unlimited number of tracks and is a great audio editing program for creating and mixing audio programs for podcasting, burning to CD-ROM, creating multimedia sound tracks, and more.

Like most audio editing programs, Audacity lets you manipulate digital audio waveforms. If you have sound files already on your computer that you would like to include in your session, you can import those files into your Audacity project. It is capable of importing sound files in many formats including WAV, AIFF, MP3, AND Ogg Vorbis. To record a new file, you configure your preferences for Audacity, hit the "Record" button, and begin speaking into your microphone. A new track will automatically be created where you can begin editing your audio program.

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Editing tools are similar to most audio editing programs. The control bar is fairly standard with typical tape recorded style controls. Audacity includes six basic tools editing audio files including the Selector tool, Envelope tool, Draw tool, Zoom tool, Time Shift tool, and the Multi Mode tool.

This Audacity tutorial will show you use the tools and how to become proficient with the Audacity program. You'll be able to set up the Audacity preferences for use with your computer and microphones, import audio from other sources and mix it with recordings and vocals.

You'll learn to use the Envelope tool to fade sounds in and out of recordings, and how to use the metering tools to adjust recording levels to get the perfect recording. You'll learn all of the basics for getting good results with this free audio editing program.

Audacity Tutorial: Using Audacity

In addition to recording and importing audio, you can also perform typical editing functions such as:

Audacity works with tracks that contain one audio file. This file is editable everything you do can be undone, including deleting tracks, which makes Audacity a forgiving editing program.

This tutorial and those on the following pages will get you up and running with Audacity in no time. Links to all of the Audacity tutorials are listed in the column on the left side of the page and down below.

Downloading Audacity Software

The Audacity download link below will let you download and install the latest version of Audacity Audio Recording and Editing software. Audacity is a free open source audio editing and recording program from Sourceforge. For a free editing program, it is a powerful multi track editing tool and is a great tool for those starting out with digital audio, podcasting, or learning about audio recording.

Audacity audio recording software is currently in version 1.2.6. With it you can record, edit, and mix an unlimited number of tracks. Audacity is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems.

These tutorials will help you to get up and running with Audacity in no time. Audacity is a free cross platform multi track audio editing program from Sourceforge.net. It is currently in version 1.2.6. It will let you record, edit, and mix an unlimited number of tracks. Audacity runs on Windows (98 through XP), Mac OS X, and Linux.

Like most audio editing programs, Audacity lets you manipulate digital audio waveforms. It is capable of importing sound files in many formats including WAV, AIFF, MP3, AND Ogg Vorbis. This tutorial will show you how to become proficient with the Audacity program.

In addition to recording and importing audio, you can also perform typical editing functions such as:

Audacity LAME MP3 Encoder

The Audacity Lame MP3 encoder is needed to enable Audacity to export MP3 files. You'll need this plugin if you're using Audacity to create podcasts in the MP3 format. The download link below will enable you to dowload and install the LAME MP3 plugin.

When yhou have finished downloading LAME, unzip it and save the file lame_enc.dll anywhere on our computer. When you launch Audacity and use the "Export as MP3" command for the first time, Audacity will ask you where the lame_enc.dll is saved.

Before you can begin to use Audacity to create MP3 files, you must download and install the Audacity Lame MP3 encoder. You can download the most recent version of Audacity Lame encoder by following the link below:

Audacity Tutorial: Setting Up Audacity Preferences on Your Computer

Before beginning a recording project in Audacity, it's necessary to set the Audacity preferences in the Edit Preferences dialog box. This ensures that the sound source and playback options are set correctly as well as bit-rate, quality indicators and more. Follow this step by step procedure to setup your computer. Obviously you must download and install the software first, which you can get from http://audacity.sourceforge.net.

Launch Audacity

Step 1. Check the Preferences
Checking the Audacity preferences is very important step and should be done before
you begin editing any audio. You can locate the Preferences Dialog box by
going to Edit Preferences, or the shortcut key combination Control P

Step 3. Set Audio Input & Outputs
Select the Audio I/O tab from the choices across the top of the Preferences Dialog box. I/O is short for Input Output and is where you’ll tell it to record your sound from and where to play it back.

Step 4. Set Playback Output

From the drop down window under Playback, select the output device that you would like to route the sound through. In this case, I’m sending it to the sound card in my computer.

Step 5. Set Recording Input
From the drop down window under Recording, select the sound source you want to record from. In this case, I’m selecting the Logitech USB Headset, because that is the microphone that I’m going to use to record some voiceover narration.

If you’re recording music, you probably want the Check box next to Record in Stereo checked. If you’re just recording your voice, leave it unchecked.
Usually, you’ll leave the check box unchecked for "Play other tracks while recording new one".

Step 6. Sound Quality Tab
The Quality tab is where you’ll set the quality of your audio. The higher the sample rate, the better quality your audio, but the larger the file size will be. For CD quality sound, record at 44,100 Hz. You’ll typically leave the other settings at their factory defaults.

Setting Up Audacity to Record

You must set up the Audacity Preferences before beginning to work on a project. See the Audacity Preferences page for a detailed description of each of the tabs in the Preferences menu and how to set them up for optimum performance.

All Other Guides and Tutorials

This Audacity tutorial will show you how to use the basic tools and procedures in the open source audio editing program, Audacity. Not just screen shots, but free narrated multimedia tutorials - You'll learn to use Audacity for recording and editing audio files that can be used for podcasting, mixing music and vocals, creating sound tracks, and other audio projects.

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